Sunday Mailbag- Comic Con Commissions?

Q: You charge only $30 for a pencil sketch caricature at your booth at comic con but they start at $150 on your website. What gives? Why can’t I email you a picture and have you do it for $30?

A: I get this one sometimes after I do a convention and people who see me there then email me and ask me to do one of the con prices commissions through the mail, which I will not do. The ones I do at comic cons are my live caricature style quick sketch caricatures like I do at theme parks. I take a little more time on them at the cons since I work from pictures as opposed to having people stand or sit, but essentially they are the same graphite and blending stomp quick draw technique. The studio pencil commissions I do with a crosshatch technique like I do my sketch o’the week with, and I spend a lot more time doing those. Thus the higher price.

The reason I only do the quick sketch ones at comic cons is because there I am set up and committed to the day drawing like that. For commissions by mail I have to put aside studio work I have going and do them. That’s a different dynamic and I won’t do that for the live drawing style or pricing. Plus, I usually turn down most commissions anyway because I have too many deadlines and work on the board.

Also, it’s kind of a unique thing to offer at a con. You can only get one of those types of drawings from me if you come and find me at one of the handful of conventions I do a year… or catch me drawing at one of my theme park operations. Then you can get one in black and white for $10 or so.

Thanks to several people for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!